at garden's edge
by scribblingnellie
Summary: When John and Mary's reception gets too much, Greg Lestrade finds himself outside, alone. He's locked away his feelings but it still hurts to see the woman he's fallen in love with dancing with her fiance. But why has Molly Hooper come looking for him? A May creative prompts story. Many thanks for reading.


'There you are.' Molly suddenly appeared around the corner of the wall, making him jump. 'Are you avoiding me?'

Her tone was half-joking. In the dark, Greg couldn't see her face clearly but he knew by the sound of her voice she was smiling. Her beautiful smile. Taking a deep breath, trying to calm his heart, he leaned back against the stone wall.

'Just getting some air.'

Which was partly true; it had become rather stuffy inside with all the dancing. But she was right. He was avoiding her; avoiding the sight of her and Tom.

'You haven't danced with me yet.'

Molly stood so close; Greg could feel her, smell her perfume, hear her breathing. Why was she there? Outside with him and not inside with her fiancé?

'I get the feeling Tom wouldn't like that.'

He rather had the feeling that Tom didn't like anything about him at the moment. The looks he'd been getting from him - over dinner, during Sherlock's speech, at the bar. Greg was trying not to make it obvious, for Molly's sake; his feelings, his thoughts were well locked away.

'What Tom likes or doesn't like isn't important right now.'

'What?'

And then her hand was in his. And Greg's heart was in his mouth. A gentle squeeze and Molly moved closer, her shoulder brushing against his chest. He couldn't let his mind, his heart, make this into something it wasn't.

'I want to dance with you Greg, here.'

A dance, nothing more. He made himself think it, repeat it - it's only a dance.

'Just us? Out here?'

She nodded, taking hold of his other hand when he didn't move. 'Just us. No strangers, no friends, no fiancé.'

Just a dance. Just a dance. Greg let her pull him towards her, feeling her against him. Her hand slipped from his and gently slid along his back, giving him goose bumps. He held his breath at her touch. Just a dance.

'Molly? Are you sure?'

'What? About dancing with you? Yes.'

Greg found himself bringing her hand to rest against his chest. Breathing her in as Molly tucked herself into him. They'd never been this close. Hugs yes, friendly hugs but this wasn't anything like those. Heart beating fast, he knew Molly would hear it, feel it in his chest.

'I wasn't looking at Tom.' Her voice was soft against his shoulder, her hair brushing his cheek.

'When?'

Eyes closed, he moved his hand around her waist; she still felt warm from being inside. Swaying slowly against each other in in the quiet; this far out in the garden the music was just a dull, distant sound. There was just him and her.

'Greg.' And then her fingers were brushing his cheek. And that made his heart stop. Snapping his eyes open, he was looking directly into hers.

What was happening?

'I wasn't looking at Tom on the dance floor, when Sherlock was talking about vows.'

'No?'

He couldn't bring himself to ask. Couldn't actually string a sentence together, his mind was such a mess. Molly Hooper, the woman he'd fallen in love with as she became engaged to another man, was in his arms. Her body was against his and coherent thought had deserted him.

'No.'

'But... you danced with him. When the music...'

'Because you turned away.'

What was she telling him? A tug at his heart and a possibility lodged in his mind. Opening his mouth, taking a breath, he felt her fingers press against his lips.

'All this time. So determined to show everyone I'd moved on and I couldn't see what was right in front of me.'

Was she...? Bloody hell. He tried to hold back the feelings he'd shut away as he watched her and Tom together. Pulling her firmly against him, Greg lowered his head, closer to hers.

'Molly, what are saying?' And he felt her breath hitch, her hand tighten in his as he whispered in her ear.

'I'm falling in love with you, Greg.'

And as Molly turned her head to look into his eyes, all he could do was bring his lips down to hers and kiss her. Words wouldn't do justice to how he felt right then.

* * *

**Another romantic Greg quick fic! Rewatching 'Sign of Three', I was caught by the scene after John and Mary's dance where Sherlock makes his vow and Molly turns to look in Tom and Greg's direction. Who was she looking at and why? Greg's face breaks my heart when he looks at Molly. So I wanted to give him a little happiness. Bittersweet happiness though, under the circumstances. Many thanks for reading!**

**There's one more story which I'm hanging onto for the moment - it's not quite coming together in the edit so I'll come back to it soon. Thank you all so much for reading my May prompts stories and for all the reviews and comments. I've really enjoyed writing them and I hope you've enjoyed reading them.**


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